This Is Dauntless
by idunnonothin
Summary: Linden's nearly impeccable performance and determination to prove she made the right choice when she chose Dauntless, catches the attention of a certain leader. Eric is both impressed and suspicious of the brunette, and he's reluctant to admit he's even starting to care about her.
1. Chapter One

A/N: I'm not the owner of the Divergent series, though I do claim the characters I've created. Please comment to let me know what you think.

Chapter One

Linden heaved a deep sigh and hung her head in disappointment. It seemed she'd had too high expectations when it came to her fellow transfer initiates. She had thought that maybe they'd at least be half as much of an adrenaline junkie as herself, or at least not be on the brink of giving up before initiation had even gotten started.

A redhead from Amity was cowering away in the corner, clutching her stomach, looking as if she was going to be sick, whilst the rest stood back and watched in horror and awe as the Dauntless-born showed no sign of hesitation or dread before they jumped out of the moving train.

Leaning back against the far wall, hands behind her back, Linden observed the last of the initiates with mild interest as the moved closer to the edge of the train coach. The small group glanced down at the ground below, and Linden couldn't help but scoff when there was an audible gasp among them before they scrambled back.

Inhaling an exaggerated breath and running a hand through her dark curls, Linden pushed herself off the wall, and rolled her shoulders. Then she leaped off and landed gracelessly on the rooftop, catching herself on the palm of her hands, but not before scraping up her right knee. A small laugh left her lips.

A Dauntless-born came up beside her. He'd been one of the first to jump. He had a lean muscular body, and a mass of dark tousled hair, an angelic face, and pretty, blue eyes. The boy offered out his hand to help her up and she took it gratefully.

"Thanks!" she beamed up at him.

They stood side by side as they watched the last of the initiates jump onto the roof. The redhead from before didn't jump far enough, but in the last fleeting second, she managed to grab onto the edge of the building. Linden, who'd witnessed the whole thing, quickly sprung to action. She tugged at the boy's shirt, and together they rushed to grab onto the girl's upper arms and pulled her up to the roof.

The girl breathed heavily, tears welling up in her green doe eyes. "Thank you," she panted.

"All right, listen up!" a deep male voice, sharp with authority, called for everyone's attention. Linden tore her worried gaze away from the redhead and locked eyes with the man who'd spoke. He had a serious expression on his face as he gave her an approving nod, and she realized he must've seen them rescue the redhead. "I'm Eric. I'm one of your leaders."

As they walked up to where he was standing on the ledge, Linden had to try really hard not to gawk. He was absolutely gorgeous; tall and well-built with strong shoulders and bold tattoos circling around his forearms and more of them running up his neck. His short, dark blonde hair was slicked back and shaved on both sides of his head, and as she got closer, she noticed he also had two very distinctive piercings above his left eyebrow.

"If you want to enter Dauntless, this is your way in. And if you don't have the guts to jump, then you don't belong in Dauntless." At his words, Linden's face screwed up into her habitual scowl of determination. "Someone's gotta go first. Who's it gonna be?"

Linden stepped forward immediately, drawing everyone's attention. Eric jumped down from the ledge, and she thought she saw his mouth quirk up a little. She swept past him, closing her eyes for a brief second when she caught the scent of his cologne, and climbed up on the ledge. She peeked down to determine how far drop it was and inhaled sharply through her teeth.

"Damn," she muttered under her breath. Then she calmly stepped off the ledge.


	2. Chapter Two

A/N: I am not the owner of the Divergent series, though I do claim the characters I've created. Please comment to let me know what you think.

Chapter Two

"First jumper, Linden!"

The small audience cheered loudly, and a laugh bubbled in Linden's throat when she even saw a some of the full members of Dauntless that had come to watch pump their fists. She approached the group, smiling from ear to ear, and was heartily greeted by them with big smiles, clapping of their hands, and encouraging pats on the back.

"Good job, girl!" a girl, rocking green contact lenses and pink stripes in her blonde hair, said before pulling Linden into a side hug. Linden laughed, feeling more exhilarated and more alive than she'd even had in her whole life.

The girl released her but stayed on the same spot beside her as they all eagerly waited for the next initiate to enter the compound through the hole in the roof.

"Second jumper, Wes!"

The group of onlookers cheered once again, seeming to have raised in volume. Linden could only assume it was because the guy who'd jumped was already considered as one of them based on that he was dressed in black from head to toe.

Wes started to make his way over to them, and at a closer range, Linden realized it was the boy with pretty, blue eyes. Her smile brightened, and when their eyes met she made a funny face at him. Chuckling, he hooked his arm around her neck and turned them toward the others.

She silently watched them, smiling still, as they engaged in an animated conversation with Wes. The way they communicated and cracked jokes made Linden realize they didn't just know one another, and "friends" wasn't a strong enough of a word to describe the dynamic. They were family.

"Dauntless-born, go with Lauren. Transfers, stay with me," the guy who'd announced the order everyone'd jumped instructed them sharply, but on the same time managing to sound bored. "Go."

"This way," Lauren said, turning around, and heading toward the dark corridor on their left, the Dauntless-born scrambling after her. The only one who lingered was Wes. He had dropped his arm from Linden's shoulders by the time the last initiate had jumped, but had stayed glued at her side.

Linden quirked an eyebrow at him. "Go on," she mouthed. Wes backed up a couple of steps and held his hands up in surrender as he shot her a boyish smile. Then he turned and jogged to catch up with the others.

"Most of the time I work in Intelligence," the guy continued. "But during your training, I'll be your instructor. My name's Four."

A ripple of snickers went through the group. Linden appeared to be the only one who felt laughing at the instructor wasn't going to earn you any favors. Even the redhead, who'd she learned was named Becca, giggled behind her hand. Linden rolled her eyes at their inappropriate behavior, once again disappointed in her fellow initiates.

"Something's funny to you?" Four asked, and the undertone of warning in his voice held was more than enough for everyone to sober up. "First lesson you learn from me if you wanna survive here, is keep your mouth shut." He gave the group a brisk nod and ordered them to follow him.

Four gave them a quick tour of the compound before they reached their destination, namely the dormitory, complete with showers and toilets all out in the open on one side of the room.

"You're going to be sleeping here for the next ten weeks," Four informed them. "Get changed!"

Linden glanced around the room, noting that there was a neat pile of a change of clothes on the foot of every bed, and approached the bed closest to where she was standing. She picked up the garments and held them up to her body to determine if they'd be a good fit or not. Satisfied, she removed her light blue button down blouse, exposing her boring nude bra, before swiftly pulling the fitted black tank top over her head.

The pants were a little loose in the waist but during the tour, Four had pointed in the direction of a few shops they were free to check out, and informed them they had each received their own amount of points, which were theirs to do with as they pleased.

After they'd all finished changing into their new clothes, and burned their old ones, they walked closely together, following the sound of loud voices and rock music playing in the background, until they reached the cafeteria.

Intimidating Dauntless men and women filled the tables, shuffling food into their mouths and engaging in loud conversations, trying to hear one another over the clatter and all the other disruptive noise that filled the room.

Linden contemplated whether she should join Wes at his table where he sat with the other Dauntless-born, or find somewhere to sit with the rest of the transfers. Wes must have sensed someone was watching him because all of a sudden, his head shot up and his eyes searched the cafeteria before they spotted her across the room. She made up her mind when he broke into a smile and waved her over.

Linden had almost reached them when Wes shot up to his feet and addressed his table. "Ladies and gentlemen," he spoke dramatically, and winked at Linden from the corner of his eye, hooking an arm around her neck in the same manner he had earlier. "Let me present to you… the one, and only… former Erudite… First Jumper, Linden!"

The table laughed and playfully bowed their heads in Linden's direction. Wes sat down again on the wooden bench and pulled her down next to him.

"Welcome to Dauntless, Linden."


	3. Chapter Three

A/N: I'm not the owner of the Divergent series, though I do claim the characters I've created. Please comment and let me know what you think and I sincerely apologize for the late(!) update.

Chapter Three

Linden fell asleep that night thinking about how much she was looking forward to begin initiation in the morning, but she could also not help but feel at least a little bummed out she wasn't going to train alongside Wes, or anyone else of the Dauntless-born for that matter.

They had all been nothing but kind to her at dinner, including her in a way that had made her feel really good about herself. Well, almost all of them had. There had been one person who had stared at her from the moment she got there with this wary look in his eyes, as if he weren't sure about her. Linden had never been very good at names, but when Wes had introduced her to everybody, the guy who never took his eyes off her had been one of the few who's names she remembered. It was Damien, and he had effectively stood out from the rest of his friends with his unnerving stare and his spiky, multicolored hair.

It hadn't been until much later, when Wes started filling her in on the quirks of Dauntless, that she had been given the distraction she'd needed to feel more at ease. Wes had told her about how the initiation process had worked the years before and it was then she had learned that Dauntless-born and transfers were trained separately. She had been disappointed to hear that, but also a little relieved in the sense that she wouldn't have to deal with Damien on a regular basis.

As they had stood listening to Max's speech about what it all meant to be a Dauntless, Wes must've had noticed her eyes drift over to where Eric had stood in the spot next to Max, for he'd leaned into her ear. He had told her in a low voice, so to not disturb or have anyone eavesdrop on them, that Eric was the youngest leader Dauntless had ever seen at just twenty years old, but the leader position hadn't been offered to him until after Four had turned it down.

"Why would anyone do that?" Linden had quietly asked him, switching her gaze back and forth between Eric on the balcony, and Four, who had been across the room at the transfers' table.

Wes had shrugged. "No one in their right mind would. It's a great accomplishment."

After the speech, and they were sitting back down, Damien had misinterpreted her lingering gaze at the blonde leader as something out of fear, and had seemed smug when he'd told her, surely with the purpose of intimidating her, that there were rumors flying around about a new rule. If the rumors had any truth in them, she should look out because the rule clearly stated that anyone who failed to prove their worth during initiation would be forced to leave and become factionless.

Linden wasn't worried about that though. There was no doubt in her mind that she had what it took to be Dauntless, and she had told Damien just that, her hazel eyes twinkling with amusement when his face had fallen and he had looked so downright disappointed his attempt to intimidate her had failed that she had struggled to hold back her laughter.

Wes, on the other hand, hadn't been considerate enough to show his friend the same courtesy and had thrown his head back and laughed mirthfully, which had earned him a French fry being thrown at him. After that, Damien had seemed to warm up to her and had even slipped her a smile when she'd lightheartedly bumped Wes' shoulder to get him to lay off. It had been a smile that'd told her she might come to like Damien.

After dinner was over, Linden had said goodbye to Wes and the others and hurried to catch up with the other transfers that she had seen leaving the cafeteria a minute earlier to head to the sleeping quarter. Upon reaching them, they hadn't seemed to know where they were going but luckily for them, Linden had memorized the way, and she had been in a too good of a mood after her dinner with the Dauntless-born to let their ignorance get her down.


	4. Chapter Four

A/N: I'm not the owner of the Divergent series, though I do claim the characters I've created. Please comment and let me know what you think.

Chapter Four

The awful sound of metal banging against other metal interrupted their sleep in the early brinks of morning. Linden scrunched up her nose and pushed herself up on her elbows, yawning sleepily, and spotted Four standing just a few feet away from the foot of her bed.

"I want everyone in the Pit. Two minutes," he barked at them before turning around and leaving them to get ready.

"What time is it?" Becca grumbled from the bed next to Linden's, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Does it matter?" Linden asked the former Amity as she kicked off her covers and swung her bare legs off the side of the bed.

Becca mumbled something incoherently under her breath before falling right back to sleep. Linden had thought that since the other girl was from Amity that she was used to starting her day off in the early morning hours, but it would appear she'd been wrong to assume anything of the kind. The redhead was snoring softly as Linden grabbed her pants and tank top from where she had left them in a heap on the floor beside her bed the night before.

She dressed quickly and as she knelt down to tie her boots, she took a glance around the room and was surprised to see that Becca wasn't the only one who hadn't gotten out of bed yet, and the few who had were barely even half-dressed.

Linden decided against sticking around to wait for the others and risk getting into trouble for arriving late to the Pit, and headed there on her own. She was just finishing putting her hair up in a ponytail when she entered the airy area, which was considerably less noisy this time of day than it had been the day before during the tour.

She immediately spotted Four. He was talking to someone who had his back turned to her. Four noticed her over the shoulder of the other man and said something to him that made him turn around. Her breath hitched in her throat when she saw who it was.

"Where's the rest?" Eric asked her, a pierced eyebrow raised in curiosity, and his thick muscular arms crossed over his broad chest.

"They should be right behind me," she replied without really thinking. If the others weren't in the Pit within shortly, she might get in trouble for lying on their behalf. Linden was in luck though, because soon after she'd said it, they heard voices coming towards them and a moment later the rest of the transfer initiates poured out from the corridor behind her.

They were talking in smaller groups but there was one initiate, who's voice was more distinctive than the other's with how loud he was talking. The only reason Linden knew his name was Chad was because she'd had a few brief encounters with him back in Erudite. He was currently whining about how it was too early in the morning to begin training but he immediately shut up, and as did the rest, when they noticed Eric standing next to Four.

Linden remembered what Damien had told her the night before about the possible new rule, and went to stand in the back to make it easier to assess what very well could be her competition. Chad was definitely one of the initiates she had to look out for. He may talk too much but he had a strong build, which gave him an advantage.

"There are two stages of training," Four informed them. "The first is physical. Push your bodies to the breaking point and you'll master the methods of combat. The second is mental. Again, breaking point. You'll face your worst fears and conquer them unless they get you first. You'll be trained separately from the Dauntless-born, but you'll be ranked together. After initiations, rankings will determine what jobs you move into. Leadership, guarding the fence, or keeping the factionless from killing each other."

Linden nodded silently as she listened intently to what their instructor told them, recognizing some of the things that he mentioned as something Wes had already filled her in on.

"The rankings will also determine who gets cut," Eric interjected, peaking Linden's interest. "At the end of each stage of training, the lowest-ranking Initiates will be leaving us to live factionless. And before you ask, it's a new rule as of this year." The way he said it, almost proudly, Linden strongly suspected it was he who had created that rule, and she felt curious as to why it hadn't already been in works a long time ago. The rule made perfect sense. Why shouldn't the warrior faction want to pursue only the best soldiers?

"We should have been informed about that!" a scrawny girl in the front argued. Linden leaned a little to the side to get a better view of her and quickly determined she wasn't a threat. Her mousy, shoulder length hair was tucked behind her slightly protruding ears, her clothes appeared to be a couple of sizes too big, and she shrunk back when Eric turned his cold eyes to stare her down.

"Why?" he asked, sounding intimidating. "Would you have chosen differently? Out of fear? I mean, if that's the case, you might as well get out now. If you're really one of us, it won't matter to you that you might fail. Now you chose us. Now we get to choose you."


	5. Chapter Five

A/N: I'm not the owner of the Divergent Series. Comments to let me know what you think is much appreciated.

Chapter Five

The transfers stood around in a half-circle, their eyes trained on Four as he took them through what the first stage of their training would consist of. He had Linden's undivided attention after only having to mention hand-to-hand combat, knife throwing, and use of firearms. She didn't become aware of her surroundings again until he was done and asked if anyone has any questions.

Linden let her eyes roam across the group and caught a certain someone already looking at her. Eric had a blank, unreadable look in his eyes and when he didn't immediately look away even after being caught, she felt at a loss as to what to do next. The stubborn streak in her didn't allow her to be the first one to break eye contact at first but as soon as she realized that it could easily be interpreted as if she was challenging him, Linden quickly averted her gaze.

Four answered a couple of questions from the group but Linden's focus remained elsewhere since she could still feel Eric's eyes on her. She tried to breathe normally despite her heart beating rapidly in her chest and exhaled a small sigh of relief when his phone rang and he excused himself.

Four then went ahead and told the group to follow him as he would now take them to the training room. As she headed towards a corridor along with the rest, Linden threw a glance over her shoulder at Eric. He was talking on the phone and seemed annoyed about something but his face blanked when he caught her watching him.

Linden swallowed and looked away and right before she was out of earshot she heard him tell the person he was on the phone with to repeat the last bit.

Four led the group through the poorly lit tunnels until they reached a heavy double door. They entered the training room and the first thing Linden did was gaze up at the impressive high ceiling. The so-called _training room_ was actually an old empty warehouse with gym equipment spread out throughout the area. Linden had just spotted the big square mat in the middle of the room when Four called for everyone's attention.

"I'll be demonstrating a few fighting techniques that I expect all of you to have mastered by the end of the day, so pay attention."

Linden listened carefully to his instructions and mimicked his stance and movements, earning a few eye rolls from her fellow transfers. She ignored them and had gotten a pretty good hand of the techniques when Four then told them to choose a punching bag and start practicing.

The punching bags hung from the beams in the ceiling and she went over to one that hung a little bit off to the side. Four kept a close eye on everyone as they practiced different punches and kicks by silently observing and making some adjustments.

Linden focused on what she was doing but made an effort to eavesdrop on what pointers Four was giving the others to improve her own skill. By the time Four reached her he had nothing but good things to say and it made her feel pretty good about herself. When he walked off she noticed Jay glaring at her and she guessed it was because Four had only moments earlier felt the need to ask him if he had even received Dauntless as his test result.

Four made matters worse for Linden when he called for everyone's attention again. "Just look at what Linden is doing," he told them. "I want to see all of you putting the same amount of effort and dedication to every punch."

Pretty much everyone looked pissed off after he said that.

They broke for lunch and Linden almost lost her step when Jay purposely bumped hard into her shoulder as they were heading towards the exit. She scowled at him but kept her mouth shut.

They had almost reached the cafeteria and if she hadn't been so hungry she would have skipped out on lunch since she doubted she'd be welcome to sit at the same table as her fellow transfers. The tension in her shoulders instantly lessened however when they crossed paths with the Dauntless-born that were also heading to the cafeteria. Linden spotted Wes and relaxed fully when he smiled at her and came up and walked next to her.

"How's your day going so far?" he asked.

"Good. Great even. Four sure seem to appreciate what I'm doing," she told him. "They on the other hand…" she said, gesturing to the transfers ahead of them. "I don't think any of them like me that much."

Linden was the first one to return to the training room after lunch. Not even Four was back yet. While she waited, she sat down on the cold concrete ground and with her legs straight out in front of her she reached forward and touched her toes. She looked up when she heard the door swing open.

Eric walked in and faltered a little in his steps when he noticed her. She saw him open his mouth, about to say something, but he didn't get a chance to before the rest of the transfers poured into the room.

Linden wished she hadn't gotten on the wrong foot with the other transfers as she watched them gather into pairs on Four's orders after he too had gotten back after the lunch break. She twisted her mouth and felt her good mood slip away. She knew there had to be someone else without a partner other than her because she knew they weren't an odd number. That's when she spotted Becca across the room, looking just as out of place as her. Becca saw her too and smiled brightly and all Linden could think of was how unfitted Becca was for Dauntless. The redhead may dress like she belonged in Dauntless but her Amity traits ran deep.

They started sparring together and Becca hadn't stopped smiling yet. Linden wanted to tell the other girl to quit it but she restrained herself because with Becca she was hopeful that maybe she could manage at least one friend out of the transfers.


End file.
